History Lessons, With Popcorn, for America's Undergraduates

Zach Messitte is president of Ripon College in Wisconsin and a
professor of political science. He teaches a class called "American
Foreign Policy and the Movies."

The merits of the nine nominees for the Academy Award for best picture are being debated by cineastes
around the world. But as a college professor, this year's Oscar
nominees also reaffirm the growing importance of the movies in the
classroom and how film can inspire young people to greater academic
inquiry.

Although most of my
students have never heard of the 1970s Abscam scandal, many have seen
"American Hustle." The horrors of American slavery are brought back on
screen, in "12 Years a Slave," for a generation of white undergraduates
who see nothing extraordinary about having African Americans as
roommates, teammates or teachers. As difficult as it is to succinctly
explain the 2008 economic meltdown, "The Wolf of Wall Street" does a
good job of playing up the excess and speculation that contributed to
the global economic crisis. And when trying to convey the concept of
failed states and why countries such as Somalia are real threats to U.S.
national security, "Captain Phillips" is a way to begin a larger discussion about piracy, the perils of foreign aid and the Law of the Sea.

Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. said, "The fact that film has been
the most potent vehicle of the American imagination suggests all the
more strongly that movies have something to tell us, not just about the
surfaces but about the mysteries of American life." Today's movies also
tell us a lot about the changing nature of teaching....